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MARCH KEY FIGURES

	Mar qtr 04	Dec qtr 03 to Mar qtr 04	Mar qtr 03 to Mar qtr 04
	$m	% change	% change
TREND ESTIMATES(a)
Value of work done	12,119.4	3.0	6.2
New residential building	7,015.2	3.7	6.5
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,295.4	2.1	12.2
Non-residential building	3,795.8	1.6	3.3
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES(a)
Value of work done	12,058.5	0.6	3.8
New residential building	7,013.2	2.4	4.3
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,278.6	-0.6	9.6
Non-residential building	3,766.6	-2.3	1.0
(a) Chain volume measures, reference year 2001-02.

Value of work done - Volume terms

Value of work done, Volume terms - Trend estimates

MARCH KEY POINTS


VALUE OF WORK DONE, VOLUME TERMS

TREND ESTIMATES

• The trend estimate of the value of total building work done rose 3.0% in the March quarter 2004.
• New residential building work rose 3.7% in the latest quarter. New houses were up 4.8% and new other residential buildings were up 1.5%, rising for the twelfth consecutive quarter. Alterations and additions rose 2.1%, the thirteenth quarterly increase.
• Non-residential work done rose 1.6%.

• In seasonally adjusted terms, total building work done rose 0.6% in the March quarter to $12,058.5m, a level exceeded only by the June quarter 2000.
• New residential work rose 2.4%, to $7,013.2m. New houses were up 4.4%, to $4,716.3m, a level exceeded only by the June quarter 2000, while new other dwellings fell 1.4% from last quarter's record level, to $2,296.9m. Alterations and additions fell 0.6% from last quarter's record level, to $1,278.6m.
• Work done on non-residential building fell 2.3%, to $3,766.6m.

• In original terms, total building work done fell 9.0%, to $11,337.1m. New houses were down 5.1%, to $4,454.0m, new other dwellings down 7.7%, to $2,178.0m and alterations and additions down 11.5%, to $1,192.2m. Non-residential work fell 13.4%, to $3,512.9m.

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

Commencing from this issue, a separate Glossary of terms has been included (see pages 53-55), and as a result, the Explanatory Notes have been revised.

SIGNIFICANT REVISIONS THIS ISSUE

Compared with the estimates in original terms published in the previous issue of this publication:

• the total number of dwellings commenced during the December quarter 2003 has been revised downwards by 411 (-0.9%). This was mainly the result of downward revisions of 189 (-1.5%) in Queensland and 102 (-0.8%) in Victoria, and
• the total value of building work commenced during the December quarter has been revised upwards by $67.8m (+0.5%), with an increase of $146.4m (+3.4%) in non-residential building being partly offset by a decrease of $78.5m (-0.8%) in residential building. The main contributor to the increase in non-residential building was Victoria, up by $137.2m (+12.1%), while the main contributors to the decrease in residential building were Queensland, down by $30.8m (-1.3%), and Victoria, down by $27.8m (-1.0%).

SUMMARY COMMENTARY


VALUE OF WORK COMMENCED, VOLUME TERMS

TREND AND SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES

	Mar qtr 04	Dec qtr 03 to Mar qtr 04	Mar qtr 03 to Mar qtr 04
	$m	% change	% change
TREND(a)
Value of work commenced	12,200.6	2.3	4.6
New residential building	7,137.8	3.4	5.8
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,230.1	-0.3	9.3
Non-residential building	3,830.8	1.0	0.9
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED(a)
Value of work commenced	12,000.0	-2.5	4.6
New residential building	7,031.6	-1.8	4.0
Alterations and additions to residential building	1,188.9	-6.2	6.3
Non-residential building	3,779.5	-2.6	5.3
(a) Chain volume measures, reference year 2001-02.

TREND

• The trend estimate of the total value of building work commenced rose 2.3% in the March quarter 2004.
• New residential buildings rose 3.4% in the latest quarter. New houses were up (+3.3%) for the fourth consecutive quarter and new other dwellings were up 3.6%. Alterations and additions to residential buildings fell by 0.3% following three consecutive quarterly increases. Non-residential building commencements rose 1.0%.

VALUE OF WORK COMMENCED IN VOLUME TERMS, Trend

• In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of building work commenced fell 2.5% in the March quarter 2004 to $12,000.0m.
• Commencements of new residential buildings fell 1.8%, to $7,031.6m, the third highest level on record. New houses were down 0.2% to $4,878.9m and new other dwellings were down 5.1%, to $2,152.7m. Alterations and additions fell 6.2% from last quarter's record high, to $1,188.9m.
• Non-residential work commenced fell 2.6%, to $3,779.5m.

• In the March quarter 2004, the seasonally adjusted estimate of total building work done rose in most states, with Western Australia recording the largest increase (+10.4%), followed by Tasmania (+8.8%) and South Australia (+5.4%). Falls were recorded by Queensland (-2.8%) and the two territories.
• In original terms, only Western Australia (+1.6%) recorded an increase in total building work done. The Northern Territory recorded the largest fall (-18.4%), followed by the Australian Capital Territory (-15.8%), Queensland (-14.1%) and New South Wales (-10.3%).

		NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
ORIGINAL(a)
Value of work done
	New residential building ($m)	2,000.7	1,876.2	1,489.1	342.1	704.4	91.1	34.0	94.3	6,632.0
	Alterations and additions to residential building ($m)	464.7	382.1	158.8	66.5	70.2	21.5	7.5	21.0	1,192.2
	Non-residential building ($m)	1,138.7	1,068.4	620.3	243.8	285.5	42.6	43.3	70.3	3,512.9
	Total building ($m)	3,604.1	3,326.8	2,268.2	652.4	1,060.1	155.2	84.7	185.6	11,337.1
Percentage change
	New residential building (%)	-6.8	-4.8	-11.7	-3.1	9.8	7.6	-34.7	-21.0	-6.0
	Alterations and additions to residential building (%)	-15.1	-2.3	-25.1	-11.7	2.7	6.1	0.3	-19.5	-11.5
	Non-residential building (%)	-14.1	-12.6	-16.3	-5.3	-14.4	-29.0	-2.4	-6.3	-13.4
	Total building (%)	-10.3	-7.2	-14.1	-4.8	1.6	-5.9	-18.4	-15.8	-9.0
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED(a)
Value of work done
	New residential building ($m)	2,120.4	1,981.5	1,598.8	356.3	719.0	94.6	na	104.5	7,013.2
	Alterations and additions to residential building ($m)	488.7	411.9	179.2	71.3	73.3	24.7	na	24.4	1,278.6
	Non-residential building ($m)	1,218.4	1,184.2	682.8	261.7	305.9	50.0	na	71.0	3,766.6
	Total building ($m)	3,827.4	3,577.5	2,460.9	689.2	1,098.2	169.3	97.3	199.9	12,058.5
Percentage change
	New residential building (%)	4.9	-0.2	-1.8	4.5	16.3	17.6	na	-12.8	2.4
	Alterations and additions to residential building (%)	-6.8	8.0	-6.3	0.4	10.7	27.5	na	1.9	-0.6
	Non-residential building (%)	-3.8	2.2	-4.2	8.0	-1.3	-10.3	na	3.0	-2.3
	Total building (%)	0.4	1.5	-2.8	5.4	10.4	8.8	-1.0	-6.0	0.6
na not available
(a) Chain volume measures, reference year 2001-02.

VALUE OF WORK DONE, VOLUME TERMS

TREND ESTIMATES

New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland

South Australia, Western Australia

Tasmania, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory